Under Pressure Cards Fold

Amazingly I remembered the password & the link to this website...how can I pass up an opportunity to address the biggest free agent signing to hit the baseball market since Alex Rodriguez in 2001. By know we all know that Albert Pujols, former Cardinals legend has left St Louis & is taking his talents to Long Beach. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim signed him to a 10 year $254M contract early this morning.

For years the St Louis Cardinals were the envy of baseball teams and fans everywhere. Great franchise with a very rich tradition, great front office who found ways to get it done, the self proclaimed "greatest fans in the world" & the best player in todays game, Albert Pujols. The "Yankees of the NL" according to some of the misguided below the Arch. However the Cardinal faithful & ownership group found out today why the are "Yankee light" & not indeed the Yankees. Allowing (yes, the Cards ALLOWED their star to walk) Albert Pujols to reach free agency this winter & ultimately losing him to the lesser known LA franchise.

Make no mistake about this the Cardinals and their incompetent or arrogant front office played a dangerous game of chicken with the prized slugger & well lost the house doing so. This however is only a surprise to Cardinals fans, who feel their franchise is untouchable when it comes to free agent loses. Consider the cockiness of the franchise when it comes to handling free agent, their basic philosophy amounts to "we're the Cardinals...you wanna play for us...why? cause unlike other franchises we have the best fans, environment, & a winning tradition." Lost to good ole St Louis is that this, like anything else in life, is a business & to players this is a job.

How can I safely & confidently say this about the fans of St Louis? Here's a quote from one of the locals concerning this situation..."Wow. All I can say is that the entire baseball world overestimated the honesty and sincerity of Albert. We thought he was different. He's no different than ARod or any of the others. So much for "love of the game", "I want to be like Stan Musial", etc. Now, he's more like Garry Templeton, who left with a big "fuck you" to St. Louis."

Ladies & gentlemen that HARD paper shred you heard at around 11AM was the collective Albert Pujols posters being ripped off the wall in the local St Louis, Missouri area. This long time Cardinal fan (we'll call him Steve for the purposes of this blog) is obviously so shocked that he actually is forgetting the 2 championships Pujols brought to them. But in all reality, the fans have no one to blame but their own inept franchise for letting their superstar player walk. It really shouldnt have gotten to this point. According to Fan Graphs (thanks Aaron) Albert Pujols was paid 104 million for 11 seasons when he was "worth 330 Million in production!!!" That's less than 1/3 paid for the production. But that's even hardly the point. Its the way the St Louis Cardinals had chosen to do business. I wont speak of the past free agent (although they do have a reputation of low balling players wanting a hometown discount), I'll speak about this very situation, a special player that hasnt been seen in this franchise since...well as "Steve" mentioned Stan Musial.

When you have a valuable asset such as this, you take proactive steps in protecting it...the Cards did the complete opposite. You knew after the 2009 season you had to address this in the form of an extension. Going into the 2010 season nothing was said contract wise. In April of 2010 the Phillies (being proactive signing their star to an extension) signed Ryan Howard to a 5 year $125M deal...probably a little too much for Howard, but this was the first domino to drop for a Pujols exit. You would think at this point St Louis would eat the loss & sign Pujols, but no...no extension talks...nothing...not during the season, not after it, not until Spring Training of 2011 when Pujols announced he wouldnt negotiate during the season, including giving the Cards a deadline. Minutes before the Pujols imposed deadline the Cardinals finally make an offer...this was it St Louis fans...this was the offer that would cement the Pujols legacy in Cardinal red forever...the contract fell short in years (8 year offer) & in dollars (Pujols would have been paid in the baseball's top 10 only, not highest paid, not even top 5). Then after another World Series title, the Cardinals failed to talk contract with Albert. Instead they watched the Miami Marlins romance their slugger with what ultimately was a 10 year $220M contract. The Cardinals then matched that offer...not a dollar more. Essentially wanting Albert to take less annually than Mark Teixeira, Adrian Gonzalez, Ryan Howard, Joe Mauer, & a few others...then LA blows them both out the water with a 10 year $254M deal, Albert signs, let the Garry Templeton comparisons begin in St Louis. In short, the Cardinals didnt put enough of an effort. For all thats said about athletes the one thing thats missed is they are somewhat sensitive. I mean think about it this way, lets say you are unequivocally the best player/person/employer/employee, not just at your position...but in the entire industry...wouldnt you want to be paid like it? Would you really allow your employer to basically string you along like this? They know your value, theyve have to be dense not to. Not only do we want you to take less to be employed by us, but we want you to take less than Ryan in Philadelphia, Joe in Minnesota, Mark in New York, & Adrian in Boston. How would that be fair to you?

In closing, St Louis is known as the Gateway to the West...& thats exactly the purpose they served with one Albert Pujols. Years of neglect led to this. So make all the Arod comparisons that you want St Louis. All players want to be appreciated. Whether that be in dollars or in attention showed. You fell short in both categories & now you want to paint Albert in Los Angeles a villain when your front office had as much if not more to do with his departure to LA. A song from Lil Wayne & Babyface sounds eerily familiar to the point Im trying to make. The Chorus goes, "I'm not saying this to shake you up, I'm just saying this to wake you up. It's all good when we making love, all I ask is don't take our love, for granted, it's granted...My love for you, is real. if you don't love me, somebody else will...So don't you...ever...get too...COMFORTABLE!!!"